“Kuntzkamera” it’s a museum in St. Petersburg. It’s a really strange place, was founded by Russian Tsar Peter the First. He collected different weird stuff all over the Russia to this museum: freaky people and animals preserved in alcohol, torture instruments, strange paintings and much more. Here are photos from that place.

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100 Responses to “Kuntz-Kamera of St. Petersburg”

If I remember corretly taking pictures in Kunst-Kamera is forbitten, but still…
The most horrible objects there (and most interesthing/popular too) are malformed embryous swimming in glassjars. I have heard some rumours that in the basement of of museum there is room where they are also adult people who have also been preserved in glass tanks, but I do know if this is true or only city legend. Anyhow I do not recomend visiting this museum if you have hangover…

Meh it’s been proven that most of those implements have been created in the 19th – 20th century for exhibition purposes. People wanted to make money by showing how “barbaric” our ancestors were and tried to outdo eachother in inventing the most ridiculous torture implements that usually were wholly unfeasable and too expensive and complicated to have actually been used.

Not to mention that the best torture methods were usually the simplest, branding, drowning, choking and binding were more than enough…

The problem is that some torture staff is just a recreation from the XIX and not really from Middle ages, but an invent from that XIX century.

Another problem is that if you read carefully the pictures some mentions the civil council, not any religious organism, even Holy Inquisition. I don’t have mood or time to explain it longer, but some comments are completely wrong.

The last picture seems to be a “Garrote Vil”, a spanish invention used as an execution method for centuries. See the screw? Well, there went the back of the neck of the prisioner/witch/criminal so the screw was pulled gently and slowly turn after turn into it. The point is that this apparatus was used until the seventies of the 20th century, by state law enforcement agencies.

This photo series is a mix of two museums: the Kunstkammer (too complicated a name to white it properly?), where the first 5 images belong to; and the Torture museum, sitting in the SSt.Peter-and-Paul Fortress (all the remaining images).

The Kunstkammer is one of the few remaining baroque universal museums, with some of the most amazing display jars originating from an earlier Dutch private collection, that Peter the Great obtained in Leiden.

The Torture museum is a new commercial enterprise, like the London Dungeon, etc.

please give correct information next time, take some time to READ before you post. These are two different museums that you have here. The torture museum is located in Peter-and-Paul Fortress and is not related in anyway to “Kunstkammer” !

It’s OK to post weird photos from remote regions of Russia and find it hard to check the authencity of them, but when it comes to Musems of St.Petersburg, it only takes some quick search in Google ( assuming you know how to do that

I’ve been there when I was a little kid before I left the country. The museum was something of Peter I’s private medical collection (the guy was apparently interested in a bunch of things, and medicine was one of them). By the time you reach the 3rd floor the formaldehyde smell kinda gets to you (that and the sight of all the deformed babies). The place is cool regardless. Too bad no one took a picture of the big heart that Peter requested to be collected off some really tall European guy after the guy’s death.

The truly scary part is how many times history has repeated itself in the past. The question is, are we doomed to see these devices in use again in the future? In Iraq, US soldiers are finding these types of torture devices that were still used by the Iraqi regime in these “modern” “enlightened” days.

I saw the instruments of torture at the Peter and Paul fortress this spring but I did not see the rest of the freak show. It was rather disgusting, and normally I’m not very sensitive about that kinda stuff…

the talent behind the creators of these devices was great. I think we should of kept things like this around. These torture items have been greatly crafted, but society today doesn’t see that. We should remember that these could still be used and, if we break the laws, could be used on us. Just a little something to think about!

The devices to lend a wonderful sense of horror to any judicial proceeding, but there are a couple points everyone is missing. 1) These devices were common practice of the SECULAR judicial systems of the day…just as trial by jury or knowing what you are accused of. 2) RUSSIA IS NOT CATHOLIC. Never has been, Never will be. This is NOT the Inquisition (Catholic or Python).

oh, so this is where the exhibition i saw last week came from. My stomach wasn’t working properly the whole day after.
as for the malformed embryos they’re a perfectly usual sight at any medical school.

i believe mankind should use more their brains instead of using much their hands
god created man to use their inteligence instead of violence
but i can see that progress hasnt been done until nowdays
sad but true torture still exists but unfortunatelly so visible to mens eyes like back then

These methods of persuasion are fantastic. Its rare to see such intelligent ideas for obtaining information from people who are acting the fool and not cooperating. Items like these should be used more often in the US. The people of the USA are too soft and too slow. They need to be shaken up a lot and taught that life is a gift and should be treasured. Not squandered on things like American Idol or McDonalds. PATHETIC.

Lucy reply 47. good point
Kind of what I was thinking… the craftman who was tinkering away making this stuff was smart yet I wonder was the blacksmith wasting his talents? I mean seriously the workmanship of pointy objects suck balls when you compare these blades with a samurai sword wares. No wonder neo-russia like afghan heroin so much, the withdrawl is like sickminded torture devices!

I totaly agree with the conclusion of they having some serious, SERIOUS issues.

the cruel terrible evil images speak for themselves..

And my thoughts are with all those who were subjected to such painful and degrading acts.

for thought, if this is Christianity, so I wonder what happened to one of the ten commandments which reads as follows: You shall be towards others as you want them to be against you.
Just another proof of the world beeing WHAT THE CHRISTIANS CALL HELL.

Yeah, those things stinks don’t they. But torture is torture and it exists today too. If people wasn’t such phuck**g sheep’s, always searching protection from someone, torture would be stopped totally.

But as long as people looks for someone or something to follow instead of stand for themselves this kind of thing will survive. All rulers needs instruments of ‘persuasion’. And the less democratic the more ‘persuasion’ will be needed.

But it should work both ways. In a country using torture I would expect people to rather die than to get into one of those dungeons. if they have any sense that is

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Hi All, we have lots of museums like this one all over the UK, there is one down the road called Wawick Castle, that has a good collection of similar devices. Also we still have a lot of villages that have a set of stocks on their village green. In fact there are even a couple of companies that specialise in refubishing these items.

We also have examples of gibbets that are still hanging where they have hung for many years. A gibbet as I am sure you all know is a tight fitting human cage, once someone had died (by torture, hanging) the body was dipped in tar and put into the cage so that it could be displayed in a public place as a deterant.

We also have a couple of examples of hanging stages and beheading blocks.

I would check out Eydon Village Stocks, located in Northamptonshire that is a great example of a set of stocks on a village green that people can freely walk up to and even try out if they feel inclined.